This is the official MM thread for Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii (1) (1.1). All discussions and reviews for this episode should go here. If you wish to rate the episode, please do so with the poll. The avg. score will be the official 'community rating', which will be used on the episode page (updated monthly).

Original Air Date: 12/11/1980Hawaii-based Private Investigator Thomas Sullivan Magnum heads to the airport to pick up an old Naval comrade, Lt. Dan Cook, and becomes suspicious when his friend doesn't show up. When Dan later turns up dead of an apparent cocaine smuggling gone bad, Magnum is adamant about his friend's innocence. He suspects Dan's death may have something to do with the top-secret assignment he had been working on and vows to uncover the truth.

A most outstanding pilot, for a most outstanding series. This two-hour pilot has a gripping storyline, good pacing, and manages to introduce most of the key elements of the series. Some of the best Vietnam flashbacks of the series can be seen in this episode. The opening scene, with Magnum sneaking onto the estate to steal the Ferrari, is a classic.

So in the pilot, we have Dan Cook established as a good guy who's looking to take down Le Bull, but is tragically killed when he's punched in the gut and ingested cocaine packets burst in his abdomen, causing him to overdose and subsequently die.

HOWEVER, if Dan is such a good guy, how did the packets get into his stomach?

He obviously wouldn't have taken them voluntarily, and lets assume he was drugged or something, don't you think he would have some recollection of being drugged/knocked out/etc before he jetted over to Hawaii?

I love the show, but this was the one glaring plot hole I've noticed.

Anyonw else think this was a bit weird?

Aside from that, I think this pilot was awesome and pretty much sets up the Magnuverse (even though Higgin's has some sort of Pirate/Scottish accent when we're first introduced to him, and TC is an utter hornball).

I had just though of this and was wondering if anyone else out there had some sort of logical reason for the Cocaine getting in the stomach of the late Lt. Cook

I just received the script for "Don't Eat The Snow In Hawaii." I've only read the first 13 pages, but it is very interesting. Most of what is in the script we see in the pilot, however, there are some interesting omissions. Pages 1 through 13 go from the opening sequene (describing the the Pacific and Magnum swimming, just as we see him in the pilot) to where Magnum drives through the gate.

Did you know the original name for the show was not MAGNUM. According to the script it was "CUTTER." In the script itself, I even saw a reference to Cutter instead of Magnum.

In the opening sequence of the script, Zeus and Apollo are more vicious than they actually appear in the pilot. For example, the script has them tearing the tape recorder apart in a frenzy. In the pilot, I think one of the lads picked it up in his mouth and brought it to Higgins.

The first shot of Inge and Greta in the script are in bed, (nude ) not in their bikinis as in the pilot.

In the script, Robin inherited Higgins from his English Uncle, and indicates that Robin doesn't like Higgins, although Higgins doesn't know that Robin doesn't like him. During the opening scene, Higgins thought Magnum was trying to get Higgins fired.

The sequence where Magnum flashes back to Vietnam before he picks the lock on the beach gate is just as we see in the pilot. However, during that scene when they are waiting for TC to pick them up in the chopper and one of them says I wonder if TC forgot to set his alarm. At this point in the script, it flashes forward to TC waking up to an alarm and lights a cigarette and makes a phone call to call Robin's Nest as a diversion to keep Higgins occupied and help Magnum get onto the estate. TC dials Robin's phone and pretends to be someone calling on Robin's behalf and asks Higgins to wait for Robin to get onto the phone. TC then puts the phone down and goes back to sleep while Higgins waits on the phone.

In the pilot, Magnum starts to drive the Ferrari toward the gate and he says "Higgins you yo yo" (which was obviously added in post production). The script has Magnum saying "a_ _hole" instead of yo yo.

In the pilot, when Magnum drives through the gate followed by Zeus and Apollo, the lads don't make it outside of the gates before the gates close (although one of the lads almost gets decapitated when the gate closes on his neck). In the script, Magnum continues to race out of the estate and down the road followed by the lads. The gates closes behind them.

The scene that we are so accustomed to seeing when Magnum pulls over and removes the Ferrari top before speeding off is not in the script. The dialogue is there, but it has him saying this while driving down the coast.

It is interesting comparing the pilot to the actual script. Some of the dialouge in the script was either omitted or changed for the pilot. However, I was most surprised to see the description of Higgins. It seems that he is merely tolerated by Robin, not respected, as we have come to know Higgins in the series.

Okay, just watched this again tonight, after having seen it several times, but not paying real attention the way you guys here have taught me to.

So close to the end of the first episode, this thread, I guess, Magnum comes into the estate at night, calling to Zeus and Apollo, and goes under the tunnel to the RIGHT of the Ferrari in the driveway to go to the guesthouse. We now know this is wrong, geographically. Anyway, once he gets in the guesthouse and is surprised by Higgins and the lads, they negotiate for use of the "stables and tennis court." WHAT STABLES?? Is this ever mentioned again? Or are these Joey's stables???? (We shall never speak of him/the stables again???)

Just a ha-ha on the "never mentioned again" theme.

Secondly, after this scene, we go to the flashback to Vietnam where TC is flying the helicopter and Rick is the spotter/gunner in the chopper. Now the helicopter in this scene is a Bell 206II Jetranger, which was not used in Vietnam, as I can find via internet research. For example:

Now, a different version of the Bell 206, as the Kiowa, was used in Vietnam, but as the heli looks in the show, it's the Jetranger or even the Longranger, which would be anachronistic for Vietnam era. (This is also the heli in which Magnum and the military pursued TC in the second part of "Did You See the Sunrise" and they hover beside TC over the ponds in front of the Japanese temple.)

However, I am NOT a helicopter expert, but this seems to me to be a "flub" in using a helicopter that was not really used in Vietnam for the purpose that it seems to be used in this episode.

I'm sure Island Hopper or Doc Ibold can correct me on this if I'm wrong. It just seemed somewhat of a flub to me. Production used what it had available and didn't realize it would be analyzed in detail 25 years later?

Please forgive me, guys, if I'm overstepping the bounds here by over-analyzing the helicopters used. What should have been used in this "rescue" scene should have been a Huey, right? Or at least TC's AH-6 Little Bird (the same aircraft that his Island Hoppers chopper was)?

Ah, nice flub catch on the heli, golf! Yeah, it most definitely should have been a Huey. And you're certainly not "out of bounds". We've got flubs on guys who punch in non-sensical, random #'s at pay phones! It's just for fun.

And yeah, I believe the "stables" were only mentioned in the Pilot Movie.

I don't know if the Marines used the Bell 206A/Jet Ranger in Vietnam, but the U.S. Army did. In 1968 and the Bell 206A/Jet Ranger was selected for use in Vietnam by the Army and designated as the OH-58A Kiowa. The helicopters were used for a variety of missions, which included observation, medivac and were sometimes fitted with rockets and used for attack operations.

You are right, the Huey UH-1 would be better for transporting troops since it is larger, but a variety of helicopters were used in Vietnam for a variety of purposes. The "Loach" (Little Bird) wouldn't have been used, because it couldn't carry very many troops. That helicopter was used primarily for observation. Another helicopter that was common to the Marines especially for troop transport and rescue missions was the UH-34 Sea Horse. This would have been a more likely choice for TC, but as you pointed out, the producers had to use what was available at the time.

Now, TC is a U.S. Marine, and the question still remains whether that helicopter was used by the Marines. I imagine they did. Although each branch of service has their own budgets and procurement departments, one branch will often adopt and use a piece of equipment if it proves succsessful with other branches. For example, the M-16 Rifle used so widely by the Army and Marines in Vietnam, was actually first ordered for use in Vietnam by the U.S. Air Force. One of the reasons the Army and Marines adopted the M-16 was because they found that each soldier or Marine could carry twice as much ammunition because the size of the round (5.56mm) was smaller than ammunition used by its predecessor the M-14 Rifle which used 7.62mm. In addition the M-14 was made of wood and steel, and the M-16 was made partly of plastic, so the rifle itself was much lighter than the M-14. We often called it the "Mattel-Omatic" because Mattel reportedly made some of the plastic components for the M-16.

A flub I noticed during this episode was when Magnum and Ensign Healy were on the dock talking about Lt. Cook, Ens. Healy referred to a Japanese Zero. In referring to the Zero, he said "oh yeah, a 30 year old Japanese zero." Healy later explains that the Zero was shot down during the attack on Pearl Harbor. If that is the case, then the zero was more like 40 years old (39 to be precise) as this episode was aired in December 1980.

Regarding the reference to the "stables", I think (but not sure) that there may have been a reference to the stables in the episode "Jororo Farewell" (Season 4), when Danny rode off with Agatha's horse. Higgins, I think, was in the study with Magnum or someone and they heard the horse, so there may have been a reference to the stables since Agatha's horse was presumably a resident in the stables.

And Golf, please don't apologize for your analysis. Your observations are great, and the detail of your discussion is very impressive. I look forward to your future observations and flubs.

Yes, the OH-58A Kiowa is the military version of the Bell 206A Jet Ranger. It is common practice for the military to provide a special designation to a civilian aircraft, rather than use the civilian name (Jet Ranger), in this case the OH-58A Kiowa.

For example, the U.S. Air Force purchases (and renames) aircraft commonly used in civilian roles, i.e., passenger jets, business jets, etc. Examples of these aircraft include: (1) KC-135 "Stratotanker" is the military version of the Boeing 707; (2) C-20 is the military version of the Gulfstream III manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.; (3) C-21 is the military version of the 35A business jet manufactured by Learjet, Inc.; (4) C-32 is the military version of Boeing's 757-200; and (5) C-37A is the military version of the Gulfstream V manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.

Let me know if you want specific sites to search, or you can search for " Bell 206A Jet Ranger/OH-58A Kiowa"; "Bell Helicopters Used In Vietnam", etc. I hope this helps, however, if you need more information, please let me know.